green beans min falasteen

green beans: pale-style

When you’ve got some fresh green beans and are looking for a way to spice them up, look no further than Levantine cuisine, which uses a touch of tomato and onion to transform the vegetable you thought you knew.

snap snap

I have to admit, as a sometime American southerner I was a little dubious of any green bean recipe that didn’t resemble my grandmother’s (plenty of ham hock and lots of butter, plus biscuits), but this one won me over (and admittedly my arteries are probably thanking me for it).

Green Beans min Falasteenh/t Nour for this recipe

You will need:
A bunch of green beans (about a pound works well), washed and ends snapped
One very large or two medium tomatoes, sliced into thin wedges
One onion, sliced thinly
Quarter cup of olive oil (at least: pour it into whatever pan you’re using and make sure there’s at least a quarter inch of olive oil in the pan before starting)
Cayenne pepper, to taste
A dash of allspice
One Maggi cube (or another bullion style cube)

and into the pot they go

First, saute the onions in the oil on medium low heat, until they just start to soften.

Next, add your green beans, tossing to coat in oil. Cook covered on medium low heat. After the green beans are about halfway cooked (depending on how soft you like your green beans, this will probably take 10-20 minutes), add the tomato, Maggi cube, a touch of allspice, and as much cayenne pepper as you’d like.

The juice from the tomatoes should provide plenty of liquid for everything to cook in, but if not, add a bit of water to the pot.

Cook covered for an additional 10 minutes or so; the tomato should eventually break down and create a kind of sauce coating the beans and onions. Adjust spices to taste and serve! This works with bread or rice, as a side dish or a simple meal, and leftovers make a great cold salad as well.

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I study culinary history and literature in North Africa and the Arabic speaking world; this blog is a record of what happens when I put my research and passions into play at my own stove.

Many of the recipes featured here hail from the Middle East & North Africa or elsewhere in the Mediterranean, but I also love to cook anything that happens to be in season. A recipe index lists all recipes alphabetically; you can also browse by category or search for keywords below.

For less cooking and more history & literature, check out my research blog. You can read more about my work here.